Roodepoort’s elderly have spent at least 75 days in darkness while both the Department of Housing and the City of Johannesburg ignore their pleas for help.
The Record has managed to confirm with Roodepoort Care for the Aged (RCA) manager Andy Harris that residents of Donovan McDonald and Tornado Park old age homes have been without outdoor and passageway lights since 25 January. This has posed a huge risk to both their personal and unit safety, he said.
Two weeks ago, Harris showed the Record the broken window of 76-year old Gloria le Fevre’s Tornado Park residence, used as an entry point for a recent burglary. Le Fevre is blind and could thus not identify suspects. It took her son and a neighbour’s daughter to get involved, installing burglar bars and replacing the window pane, to give her a sense of security back. According to Harris, the Department of Housing has to date not so much as acknowledged the incident, never mind stepped in, despite numerous letters sent to them by the RCA.
A resident of Donovan McDonald on a separate occasion told the Record he had personally visited the Roodepoort Civic Centre to report the issue on 26 January, but had not received a reference number or any feedback.
“The lights in the passageways and outside the buildings of Donovan McDonald aren’t working,” Harris said.
“Residents are in total darkness, unsafe and completely traumatised, the same goes for Tornado Park.”
The units or ‘residences’ themselves are not affected by the supply problem as prepaid meters have been installed. The RCA cannot get involved beyond repeatedly sending letters to the department and councillor for the area, he explained, as they are primarily assisting in the care of the people themselves and cannot take over the responsibilities of the municipality.
Aspirant candidate for Ward 70, Caleb Finn, confirmed Harris approached him about this, but said he’s heard of the issue before.
“We heard about it and I heard along the grapevine the department was going to fix it, but apparently nothing has happened.”
Finn and a team from the Region C Disaster Management Sub Forum visited Donovan McDonald four weeks ago to find “a few challenges”, as he put it. They assessed the center for disaster management and found window handles and cables, among other things, were stolen, further endangering residents.
“There is a lot of theft and it can’t be pinned on the elderly themselves,” Finn said.
He committed to giving more thorough feedback after attending a meeting at the center this week.
In the mean time, City Power spokesperson Yumna Sheik has not so much as acknowledged the Record’s request for comment on the situation at Donovan McDonald.
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